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9:52 a.m., June 8, 2010----The University of Delaware's College of Arts and Sciences honored two of its graduates at Forum and Reunion Weekend with the college's newly established Alumni Achievement Awards.

William C. Allen, a 1972 graduate with a double major in history and art history, and Dr. Robert L. Witt, a 1977 graduate in biology, were presented the awards by George Watson, dean of the college, at a ceremony and alumni reception on Friday evening, June 4, in the Roselle Center for the Arts.

In announcing the awards, Watson said that Allen “exemplifies the college's commitment to the arts and humanities” and that Witt “embodies the synergy between the arts and the sciences.”

William C. Allen

After graduating from the University, Allen earned a master's degree in architectural history at the University of Virginia and then worked in the Mississippi Historic Preservation Office, where he became chief architectural historian in 1980. In 1982, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he continues to serve as architectural historian and historic preservation officer for the Architect of the Capitol.

Allen has written numerous articles and book chapters and is the author of the book History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction and Politics. He is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Society of Architectural Historians, the Vernacular Architecture Forum and the Washington Preservation Roundtable, as well as the Historical Society of Delaware and the Seaford (Del.) Historical Society.

At UD, Allen received the Medal of Distinction in 1996, was inducted into the Alumni Wall of Fame in 1998 and has served as chair of the University's Visiting Committee on Architecture since 1992. He established the William C. Allen Endowment in Art History at UD, and then renamed the fund to honor E. Wayne Craven, H.F. du Pont Professor Emeritus of Art History.

Robert L. Witt

Witt graduated from UD as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and went on to earn his medical doctor degree at Jefferson Medical College, after which he completed residencies in surgery and in otolaryngology. Now an eminent surgeon, he is chief of head and neck oncology at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center of Christiana Care Health Systems, while also holding appointments at St. Francis Hospital and the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

Witt serves on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, the Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Center for Translational Cancer Research at UD. He has written two books and numerous articles and has given invited lectures and served as a panelist or guest speaker at medical meetings around the world on such topics as oral cancer and salivary gland surgery. Witt also holds editorial board positions on three medical journals, Laryngoscope, the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

In addition to his professional connections with the University of Delaware, Witt and his wife, Carol Ann Landefeld, a doctor of veterinary medicine, are what Watson called “enthusiastic supporters of the arts, especially of our music department.”